Beef, Butter Bean & Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale Stew with horseradish & herb dumplings

This rich, hearty stew featuring our award-winning Christmas Ale is the ultimate comfort food for chilly nights.
And the delicious homemade dumplings are sure to prove a hit with guests!

Ingredients for the stew - serves 4

1.2kg Diced braising beef (I like to buy a beef topside joint & cut into 1-inch pieces)
500ml / 1 bottle Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale
80g Plain Flour
100ml Vegetable oil
100g Butter
15g Thyme 
300g Onions
400g Carrots
500ml of fresh good quality beef stock (you can buy these sachets in most supermarkets)
400g / 1 tin Butter beans 
4 large cloves of Garlic
2 Bay leaves
30g Parsley
70g Tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

For the horseradish & herb dumplings

120g Self-raising flour
60g Vegetable suet 
25g Horseradish sauce
5g Thyme
50ml Water
Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Place the diced beef into a tub or pan which you can get into the fridge overnight. Then pour the Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale over the diced beef and stir thoroughly. Cover with a lid and place in the bottom of the fridge for a minimum of four to six hours or overnight.
  2. Peel and finely slice the onions. Wash, peel and dice the carrots. Pick and finely chop the fresh thyme, discard the stalk. Peel and finely chop the garlic. 
  3. Take a medium-sized thick bottomed pan and add the butter over a medium heat. Add the diced onions, carrots and garlic puree to the foaming butter and cook, without colour, season with a little salt and pepper.
  4. Pour the seasoned flour onto a plate and coat each piece of beef in the flour.
  5. In another pan heat the oil and fry the diced beef in batches - around 12 pieces. Then add to the softened onion, garlic and carrot mix. Repeat this process until you have all the diced beef, cooked off and mixed with the root vegetable mix.
  6. In the pot with all the beef and vegetables, de-glaze the pan with the remaining Christmas Ale from the beef marinade and reduce this down by half of the original amount.
  7. Add the beef stock, bay leaves, tomato paste and chopped fresh thyme. Mix thoroughly. Bring to a simmer and cook for around 90 minutes on a moderate simmer, until the beef is tender. Ensure you are stirring the pot every 5-10 minutes to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
  8. Whilst the beef and Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale stew is cooking, you can make the horseradish and herb dumplings. To do so, place the flour, suet, horseradish, chopped thyme and a little salt and pepper into a bowl. Using a spoon, mix the ingredients together with the water to create a thick batter consistency. 
  9. When the beef is tender, stir in the strained butter beans and the chopped parsley, season to taste.
  10. Evenly space tablespoons of the horseradish and herb dumpling mix on the stew and add a lid.
  11. Place in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through.

Serving suggestion

Serve with a buttery mashed potato, with lots of butter and some steamed seasoned greens. I like it with finely sliced leeks, sweetheart cabbage, kale and peas. Enjoy!

Gareth’s Top Tip

You can test the horseradish and herb dumpling mix in a pan of lightly simmering water to test for consistency if needed.